Pumping system.



H. B. TAYLGR.

PUMPING SYSTEM. APPucATmN miv sumas. i914.

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TAYLOR. "PuMPlNG SYSTEM. APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 29. |914.

1,231,310. v PmntedJune 26,1917.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

H. S. YAYLOR.

PUMPING SYSTEM.

APPLICATION FILED sEPT.29,1914.

1,231,316 Pafented June 26,1917.l

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

www0/.mcy nwutu UNITED sTATEs PATENT oEEioE.

HARVEY BIRCHARD TAYLOR,- 0F PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

PUMPING SYSTEM.

. Specification of Letters Patent.

i Application led September 29, 1914. Serial No. 864,046.

To all whom it may concern.'

Be it known that I, HARVEY BIRGHARD TAYLOR, a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing at Philadelphia, in the county of Philadelphia andState of Pennsylvania,

havev invented certain new and useful 'Imf large volumes of waterunder., relatively low head, but which when submerged vrequire the pumpsto handle water against a greater head, but not necessarily in the samevolume.

According to this invention, I accomplish this result by modifying theconnections between the several stages of a multi-stage pump by means ofa novel valve mechanism especially adapted for the conditions insubmarine vessels. An ordinary multi-stage pump -with thestagesconnected in series will discharge a relatively small amount ofwater against a high head, while by connecting the stages in parallel, arelatively large volume of water can be discharged against a smallerhead, with about the same consumption of power. But the problem is todevise a simple and reliable valve mechanism whereby the connectionsfrom series to parallel, or parallel to series, can be quickly andeasily made, and which valve mechanism will not require excessive space,

or be objectionably heavy. In providing a valve mechanism whichmeetsfthese conditions desired for pumps of submarine vessels, I havealso devised a valve mechanism whereby an intermediate volume of watercan be handled against an intermediate head, by connecting the stages ofa pump in seriessparallel. This does not increase thecomplexity -of thevalve mechanism, and provides an extremely elastic range of operation ofthe entire pumping system. A

In the embodiment of the invention shown herein, 'there is provided inconnection with a multi-stage pump of a suitable design, si-

multaneously operable rotary valves, one controlling the connections onthe suction sides of the several stages, and the other con trolling theconnections on the discharge sides of the several stages. At oneposition of the rotary valves, the stages will be connected in series,for handling water against4 the maximum head. At another position thestages gill be connected in parallel to handle the largest volume ofwater against the minimum head, and at a third position the stages willbe connected in series parallel to secure the intermediate condition.

Patented June 26, 1917. l

The valves are preferably interconnected by gearing controlled by ahand-wheel, so that they will always be in proper relation to each otherand to the several to and from the several stages.

In the accompanying drawings, y Figure 1 is a cross section through oneports leading of the stages of a centrifugal pump with the valves in theseries the line 11 of Fig. 3;

Fig. 2 is a developed longitudinal section on the line A-BC-D-E of Fig.1;

Fig.'3 isa plan View; Fig. 4 is a sectional view showing vthe valveconnections for series parallel, and

Fig. 5 is a similar view showing the Valve positions for parallelconnection.

position, taken on 1 represents the casing of a centrifugal "A pumphaving four stages. 2 i's a. motor which drives the impeller shaft 3, lis the suction pipe and 5 a discharge pipe. The impeller shaft 3y passesthrough the usual of the casing and is provided with aball thrustbearing 7. Thefqparticular construction of the pump is not a part ofthis invention, but the pump shown is preferably .stuing box andbearings 6, 6, at both ends l acentrifugal pump of any desired number 1`f of stages, in which the impellers 8 are all mounted on the shaft 3,and comprise suitable moving vanes which co-act with stationary vanes 9.The vanes 9 are disposed between the periphery of the impellersS and theperipheral discharge chambers 10 of each stage. Each stage is alsoprovided with an inlet chamber 11 which leads tothe center of eachimpeller 8.

. AWhen the stages are connected in series, the water passing in at 4Hows through the inlet 11 of the first stagethrough the impeller 8 ,andthe fixed vanes 9 to the discharge chamber 10 thereof, thence the waterenters the inlet 11 of the next stage, and so on until it has passedthrough all of the stages and is discharged through the outlet 10 fromthe last stage into the discharge "l`he work done by each stage issubstantially equal, and the total head overcome is that due to the sumof the heads overcome by eaeh stage. or the difference in head betweenthe suction end l and the discharge end 5. T his position is illustratedin Fie'. 2.

The valve mechanism consists of a rotary multiple position inlet valve15, and a similar outlet valve 16. These valves are respectivelycontained in casings 17, 1S, symmetrically disposed below the pmnpcasing 1. llach valve is carried by a separate shaft 1S), Q0, whichcarry gears 21, Q2 meshing with an operating pinion 23. The operatingpinion 23 is carried by a shaft 24, which may be operated by ahand-wheel or other suitable power.

The inlet Valve 15, see Figs. 1 and 2, cousists ot three longitudinalchambers 26, 2T, Q8, separated by a triple partition wall Q0. ln Fig. 2,it will be seen that the inlet alve l5 is shown in vertical section onthe line A B. with the series inlet chamber Q6 con nected to the inlet11 of the, first pump stage through port 30. This port 30 is shown inthe dotted linesin Fig. 1, as it is behind the portion of' the valve 15through which the section ot' Fig. 1 is taken.

The outlet valve 16 differs in detail from the. inlet valve, as itsfunctions are substantially the reverse of the inletvalve. 'lhe outletvalve 16 comprises intermediate series chambers 33, 33, 33, 34, which,in the positions of Figs. 1 and 2 connect the outlet chambers 1() ofeach stage with the inlet chamber 11 of the succeeding stage, and theoutlet 10 of the final stage is connected through port 3J. with thedischarge 5. Thus, the chamber 26 of the inlet valve 15 cooperates withthe passages or ports 33, 34, of the outlet valve 16 when the stages areconnected in series.

The outlet valve has a parallel discharge chamber 36 provided with aport' 37 for each stage. so that when the parallel inlet chamber 27 isin position so that its ports 8S communicate with the inlets 11, to theseveral stages. the outlet valve '16 is n position so that its ports 37comn'muicate with the outlets 10 from the several stages. Thus, paralleloperation ot the stages is secured` and a large'volume of water ishandled at the head due to one stage.. This position is shown in Fig. 5.

To seo-'ure an intermediate volume ofI discharge. at an intermediatehead the series parallel arrangement ot' Fig. t isemploved. The chamber27 ot' inlet valve 15 is provided with a series port t() which isangularly displaced from the parallel inlet ports 3S. port J.0 being inline with an additional series port 41 in chamber 28. Thereby, thesuction l is connected in parallel to the inlets 11 ot', for example,the first aml third stages of a four stage pump. At the same time.I theoutlet valve 16 is in such position that the first and second stages areplaced in series with each other by a passage lil in outlet valve 16,and the third and fourth stages are also in series by a similar passageil. At the same time. the discharge from stages 1 and 2 is connected t0chamber 36 by passage 45 and that fromstages 3 and '-t by passage 46.'Elms the pressure is equal to twice that ot' one stage, and the volumehandled is equal to twice the volume handled by one stage, with thisseries parallel arr: ngement ot' stages. lt will be understood that theinvention is not to beh restricted to any particular type ot pump, norto any particular number et stages. and it will beI seen that with agreater number ot` stages not only could the extremes' due to series andparallel connections ot the stages be obtained, but by difterent seriesparallel groupings of intermediate stages more interi'nediate volumesand pressures could be obtained by properly designing the valves to givethe desired groupings ot' stages. It' the number of revolutions beassumed to be 1800, and the stages be designed to give 200 gallons perminute against a head of 300 feet when in series, in parallel, at thesame number of revolutions approximately S00 gallons per minute 4 wouldbe delivered against a head of 75 100 feet. and in series parallelapproximately 400 gallons per min-nte are delivered against a head ot15() feet. lVth each ot' these arrangements and with the proper designof pump. extremely eflicieut service will he se 105 cured, and the powerrequired to operate the pump at the point of maximum efficiency for anyotl thc several conditions does not greatly vary as the head andquantity inversely vary. The cylindrical interconnect- 110 ed valvesdisposed close to the pump casing and parallel to the pump shaft in thesame casing are esl'iecially advantageous by reason of their relativelysmall size t'or the results accomplished. It will be observed that the115 valve chambers are ot' unequal volumes, those tor the parallel flowbeing! largest, and thostl tor series flow smallest, while those forseries parallel flow are of intermediate volume corresponding to the Howto be car 120 ried. hforeover. they are naturally approximately balancedagainstwater pressure so that excessive, power is not required tooperate them even under heav)v pressures. ll'hile the invention isparticularly useful 125 in a submaripe vessel. it. is useful in allother relations where it is desired to economically handle varyingquantities ot water or other fluids against varying ncads.

Various modifications and changesinayaw be made in the specificembodiment ofthe invention herein illustrated and described,

' passages for the entering fluid.

2. A rotary valve for a multi-stage pump comprising a hollow cylinderopen at one end and having peripheral recesses to pass theyliquid, andan aXial partition dividing said cylinder and said recesses intoseparate passages for the fluid.

8. A valve for a multi-stage pump rcomprising a hollow cylinder open atone end and having peripheral ports to pass the liquid and separatedlongitudinal passages connecting said ports to the open end of thecylinder. A

4. A discharge valve for a multi-stage pump comprising a hollow cylinderopen at one end and having peripheral ports to pass the fluid, andpartitions for separating said ports into different combinations.

5. A valve for a multistage pump coniprising a hollow rotatable cylinderbeing open at one end and having peripheral ports and partitionsseparating said ports into groups.

6. In a multi-stage pump, the combination with a plurality of impellers,of a cas- -ing therefor, an inlet valve common to said impellers ,andcomprising a hollow cylinder receiving the i'luid at its end anddischarging it through peripheral ports, and a wall in said valvedividing it into longitudinal chambers to control the supply of saidimpellers in a plurality of combinations.

7. In a multi-stage pump, the combination with a casing supporting aplurality of impellers and having inlet and exhaust passages therefor,of valve housings parallel to the aXis of said impellers and havingopenings communicating with said inlet and eX- haust passages, andvalves in said housings controlling the flows through s aid impellers ina plurality of combinations and comprising open ended hollow cylindricalmembers receiving and discharging the entire inflow and outow throughthe pump parallel to the aXis of said impellers vin all of saidcombinations.

8. In a multi-stage pump, the combination of a series of stages, animpeller for each stage, a casing-having a passage for each stage, avalve controlling said passages for grouping said stages in a pluralityof combinations comprising a hollow movable cylinder having longitudinalchambers, and

peripheral ports for each chamber coperating with said casing passagesto vary the connections between said stages, said chambers beingconnected to one end of said valve.-

9. .In lcombination with a `multi-stage pump, a rotary stage controllingvalve having chambers varying in volume according to the flow to becontrolled-- Vl0. In combination with a multi-stage pump, a rotary stagecontrolling valve having longitudinal chambers varying in "volumeaccording to the flow to be controlled.

11. In a multi-stage tion with a longitudina serieso impellers, of ahousing therefor having inlet and `outlet passages for [the flowsthrough said impellers, cylindrical valve chambers -having peripheralports communicating Lwithsai'd. passagesl and open at one endfor-passing the liquid, and movable valves in said Chani-` bers forcontrolling `the flcliiv` through the' impellers 4ina plurality ofcombinations and ump, the coinbiiaformed to connect all the flows tosaidopen ends oifLLid valve chambersin all of said combinations. y

12. Ina multi-stage pump, the combination with a casing having threecompartments substantially tangent .to each other, of hollow rotarycylindrical valves in two of said compartments, driving wheels on theshafts of each of said valves and a central pinion engaging said wheelsto rotate said valves. y y

13. A pump comprising a series of centrifugal impellers, a substantiallycylindrical casing for said impellers having inlet and exhaust passagesat the sides thereof, open ended valve housings beneath, parallel with,and supportingsaid impeller casing and having openings communicatingwith the'inlet and ,exhaust passages ofthe impeller casing, .open endedvalves in said housin s adapted to'receive the entire iniow o liquidthrough the open end of one valve housing, to control the fiows throughthe impellers in a plurality ofcombinatio'ns` and to discharge theentire outflow at an open end of the other valve housing.

14. A pump comprising a series of centrifugal impellers, a substantiallycylindrical casing for said impellers cast in two parts consisting of anintegral base portion having inlet and exhaust passages at the sidesthereof for the impellers and an integral cap portion mating with saidbase portion to form a housing for all of said impellers, open endedvalve housings beneath, parallel with, and supporting said impellercasing and having openings communicating with the inlet and lexhaustpassages of the impeller casing, open ended valves in saidhousingsadapted to receive the entire inliow of liquid through the open end ofone valve housing, to con-4 entire out-flow at an open end of the othervalve housing.

l5. A pump comprising a series of centrifugal impellers, a substantiallycylindrical casing for said impellers cast in two parts consisting of anintegral base portion having inlet and exhaust passages at the sidesthereof for the impellers and an integral cap casting mating with saidbase portion to form a housing for all of said impellers,'

open ended valve housings beneath, parallel with, and supporting saidimpeller easing and having openings communicating with the inlet andexhaust passages of the imeller casing, at least one of said housingseing cast integral with said base portion of the impeller casing, openended valves in said housings adapted to receive the entire inflow ofliquid through the open end of one valve housing, to control the flowsthrough the impellers in a plurality7 of combinations and to dischargethe entire outflow at an open end of the other Valve housing.

comprising a series of centrifugal impellers on a common shaft, inletand exhaust valves parallel to said shaft for controlling the flowsthrough said impellers in a plurality of combinations, and a casing forsaid irnpellers and valves having inlet and exhaust passages andconsisting of an upper impeller housing having a lower integral baseportion for all of said impellers and an integral cap portion matingtherewith, and lower cylindrical valve housings substantially tangent toeach other and tangent to and integral with said base portion of theimpeller housing.

In testimony whereof I afix my signature, in presence of two witnesses.

HARVEY BIRCI-ARD vTAYLOR.

Witnesses. y CHAs. T. TAYLOR, IsAAo H. WRIGHT.

